Nightmares
by Holly Marie Fowl
Summary: Oh, what coincidence that our heros have bad dreams in the same night. . .Especially when she is staying at Fowl Manor. T for safety. slight H/A


**A/N: **I don't know where this idea came from, or how it started, but I do know when it came. So, after playing with the idea a little bit, I decided to write it down and see how it turned out. I liked how it turned out well enough so I decided to type it up and post it. Here we go:

**Disclaimer:**

Me: No, Athena. How many times do I have to tell you?

Athena: Well, you have to say it, or you'll get in trouble with FF.

Me: What-ever.

Athena: Holly, we've been through this before! You have to put a disclaimer!

Me: NO!!! It's tragic. And do they honestly think that little old me, who can't seem to get higher than a B in Algebra, wrote AF??? That's just stupidity. I'm not that good an author compared to the Irish genius, Eoin Colfer.

Athena: That's all we need. Thank you.

Me: (smacks forehead with hand) Gah! D'Arvit! I'm such a freaking _cowpog_!!!!

Athena: She doesn't own those either.

Me: That's it!!!!!!!!!! (gets out a buzz baton)

Athena: Oh, crap. (runs)

Me: (turns to audience, who are cowering in their seats) Sorry about that little argument. Enjoy the story!!!

~HMF and her Muse's (hopefully) creative disclaimer (I HATE DISCLAIMERS)

* * *

I think that we've all had nightmares before. Think back and see if you can remember the most terrifying ones. You should be able to. It's the truly terrifying ones that you remember with amazing clarity. It was a dream like that that Holly Short was currently having. . . . . .

It had started off innocent enough; just a twisted sense of reality. Then the flashback started. She saw her mother trapped in the box that had claimed her life. Holly knew that she could help, but someone was holding her back. She was screaming and crying, "NO!"

Then the scene changed. This time, she was rewatching the bomb strapped to Julius Root's chest tick backwards. She heard Opal Koboi's voice telling her past self about the bomb; heard everything after that; saw her shoot at the sweet spot. The bomb exploded, providing her with a different scene.

Now, it wasn't a memory. Holly saw Artemis Fowl walking toward her. They were standing on a sidewalk.

"No," she cried out. "Not him, too. Please, no."

She struggled harder against the chains, wanting to run to him. Then she saw an assassin in a dark coat plunge the sword through him. He fell to the ground and the mysterious assassin walked away. The Irish boy was just out of reach, but yet he was right in front of her. "NO!" she screamed. "Let me go!"

"Holly, help me, please," he called out. Could he not see the chains that bound her? How badly she wanted to rush to him and heal him. . .

"I- I can't!" she pulled harder.

"Why won't you help? I- I thought you were my friend," he used the last of his breath to say. Holly was sobbing harder than before as she watched the light leave his eyes. The scene faded to her bedroom. She sat up straight, gasping for air. The dream had been so vivid. It kept replaying. The part that got to her the most, though was the last scene. She hadn't been able to help him.

Holly wanted so badly to see him and make sure he was alive. She wanted to make sure that it was just a dream, produced by her cruel imagination.

_He's not actually dead. He's one room over. You're in Fowl Manor, remember? _her mind said.

Taking a precious moment to calm down and control her breathing, she crept silently to the room next door. After opening the door as gently as possible, she walked in and over to where he was. She sat on the edge of the bed, praying that he wouldn't wake up and ask why she was there and crying. There was a frown on Artemis's face.

_Maybe he's having bad dreams, too, _she thought. He looked really upset, tossing and moaning a little. She put her hand on his cheek and used her other hand to take one of his in hers. All of a sudden, he muttered, "No, not her. Please."

"Shh," she murmured. He seemed to relax a little. "It's okay."

What was he dreaming about?

* * *

Artemis Fowl was also having a horrible dream. It was more of a memory than a dream, though. He was dreaming of what had happened to Holly on Hybras. He relived the sword going into and the sound it made. His common sense had left him for the dream.

"No! Not her. Please!" he shouted. He started running to her, but it felt like he was running through jello. She just kept getting further away.

He heard the voice of an angel then. It rippled the picture like stones skipping across a pool of water.

Upon waking, he felt something warm on his cheek and a hand holding his. Then his vision cleared and he almost had a heart attack. Artemis sat up straight.

"Holly? What are you doing here? Did I wake you up?" he asked. Then he noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks. Before he could really look at her, though, she turned away and started to stand up.

"No, um, I have to go," she stammered. He grabbed her wrist.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, pulling her back onto the bed. He reached out to touch her cheek. When he did, instead of leaning away like he expected, she closed her eyes. The soft skin was wet. He moved his hand under her chin, turning her head back to look at him.

"It was just a dream," she said, sounding like she was talking to herself, more than him.

"You, too, huh?"

Holly nodded. Artemis moved over and pulled back the sheets so she could slide in next to him. She blushed and did so. He hugged her, and she placed her head on his chest.

"Tell me," he said gently. She blushed and described a dream. As soon as she finished with the dream, they both were silent. All you could hear was their beating hearts and breathing. He stroked her hair.

"You said earlier that you also had a bad dream," Holly said, wanting nothing more than to hear his voice.

"Yes, I did," Artemis confirmed.

"Are you going to tell me? I told you mine," she said. Artemis turned red.

"It-it was about Hybras," he said.

"Enough said," she understood. "Sorry, Arty."

Once again, spoken words disappeared, and the only sounds were their beating hearts. After a while, Artemis was about to say something when he realized that Holly had fallen asleep. He smiled and soon fell asleep too.

* * *

Domovoi Butler was doing his normal rounds. He saw that Holly's door was wide open. The bed was empty and obviously had been for a while. _Maybe she fell asleep in front of the fire with Artemis again, _he thought. That had been known to happen when she came to visit. The pair would spend the evening curled up in front of the fire, talking. Then they would wake up in the morning and realize that they had both fallen asleep. It had happened more times than Butler could count. The first time, though, had been hilarious, because he had gotten Juliet up to search the whole house for them. This was only to discover that they had fallen asleep in the living room. There was much teasing the heros after that.

This obviously wasn't one of those times, though. Holly wasn't lying on the couch in the living room and neither was Artemis. That was the first place Butler would look. Next, he checked the library. There had also been several cases where Holly would read in the library and fallen asleep. As he walked past Artemis's room, he saw that the door was open a crack. He opened the door a little to find the pair asleep in each other's arms. Butler shook his head. They might have saved the world several times over, but that didn't mean they were smart. The pair really should be more careful about things like this. It could be taken the wrong way, especially by Holly's superiors. If someone—a fairy, especially—had seen Holly in her current position, she would probably loose her job. _Oh well, _Butler thought. _I'll talk to them tomorrow._

He gently closed the door and walked away.

* * *

The next morning, Holly woke up in Artemis's arms. She was confused for a moment, but the dream came rushing back to her.

"You awake?" Artemis whispered.

"Yeah, she said and rolled off of him. "Hey, um, thanks, Arty."

He smiled genuinely and. . . . .affectionately? Was that what it was?

"You're most welcome. I have to thank you, too."

Holly smiled widely and kissed on the cheek before walking out of the room. Artemis watched her leave, wondering what had just happened.

**Fin**

**End Notes: **

Me: I'm not so sure about the ending. . . . . . . . . . . .But please tell me what you thought of it! Athena will give you truffles if you review!

Athena: Who says?

Me: I do.

Athena: (starts muttering to herself)

Me: And you go after _me_ for talking to myself!

~HMF and her crazy Muse

(Athena: I am NOT crazy!)


End file.
